Zoo In India

Bannerghatta National Park, Bangaluru

Bannerghatta National Park is situated close to Bangalore, State of Karnataka. It was established in the year 1971 and by 1974, the park was declared to be one among the Indian national parks. In the year 2002, a part of this park was declared to be the biological reserve under the name of Bannerghatta Biological Park. This park has turned out to be the most popular tourist destination with various enclosures like safari park, snake house, an aquarium, butterfly enclosure, animal rescue centre, pet corner and a zoo. The park also hosts various ancient shrines for the people to worship. This is also an ideal destination to enjoy trekking. The park is maintained under the collaboration of ATREE (Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment), The University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore and the Zoo Authority of Karnataka. There are about 6 rural villages enclosed inside this national park and the people from this village carry out cattle and sheep farming.

The vast 25000 acre of this national park is situated approximately 22 km from the southern side of Bangalore in Anekal hills range at an elevation of about 1245 to 1634 m. There is a hilly region made of granite sheets inside the cover of moist deciduous forest and the presence of scrubland on the higher zones. The park is bordered by approximately 16 villages. This park also forms the part of the wildlife corridor created for elephants connecting Sathyamangalam forest and BR hills. It is continuous with the Talli Reserve Forest towards the southeast direction and the southern direction is marked by the presence of Bilikal forest.

This park receives annual rainfall of about 700 mm annually. There is a stream in the name of Suvarnamukhi that runs through this park providing a pond with water that is known to have various curative properties. By May 14th 2015, they also opened 4 bore wells in order to provide water to animals during dry season.

The biological park acts as zoological reserve and is named after Y.M.L Sharma, the Conservator of Forests of Karnataka. The park shelters various mammals including lions and Indian tigers.

Visitor Information

Visitors to this park should take sufficient time to enjoy all interesting things inside this park including the safari, elephant sanctuary, zoo and butterfly park.

Some Basic Information Must Read

The park provides safari excursions which is supported and regulated by Karnataka State Tourist Development Corporation (KSTDC). There is a separate safari session for  animals like Bengal Tigers, white tigers, lions, bears and spotted dear. There is a fenced elephant sanctuary developed by Carol Buckley covering total area of about 122 acres. This fence was sponsored by the animal rights organization, ‘People for the ethical treatment of animals’ (PETA) which raised funds near about one crore to install this fence. Inside this fence, the elephants are completely free to roam around without any external disturbances. There is also a small museum inside this park which showcases various special exhibits. There is also a small theatre and a reptile park. There is also a butterfly park in this place which was opened by the then Union Minister of Science and Technology, Kapil Sibal in 2006. The environment of this park is designed to host more than 20 butterfly species. There is an artificial waterfall along with beautiful flora to attract more and more butterflies.

Wildlife

The flora present in this national park includes Peltphorum pterocarpum, Samanea saman, Bauhinia Purpurea, Eucalyptus, Bamboo, Tamarind, Santalum album, Grewia tilaefolia, T. arjuna, Neem, Sandalwood, Terminalia tomentosa, Schleichera oleosa and Narchissus latifolia.
The fauna list of this national park includes hippopotamus, krait, Russell’s viper, python, cobras, monitor lizard, slender loris, pangolin, wild boar, hare, porcupine, bonnet macaque, common langur, barking deer, spotted deer, Chital, Sambar, Sloth bear, Wild boar, fox, jackal, leopard, Gaur and elephants.

How to Reach

Bengaluru is well equipped with airlines, railways and roads that connect Bengaluru with all major cities in India. There are plenty of BMTC buses and also private taxis that transport visitors from various well known landmark of this city to Bannerghatta national park.

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